Volkswagen Jetta : Test Drive & Review

This is a discussion on Volkswagen Jetta : Test Drive & Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Originally Posted by shivasuma
I had booked a white CL and was promised delivery in may-end. Just got of the ...

I had booked a white CL and was promised delivery in may-end. Just got of the call with the sales guy and apparently the car can only be delivered by Aug-end. Now re-thinking the color or probably even the car. If the facelifted cruze is launched by then and whichever I can get earlier I will buy that.

Thats unfortunate. I think Jetta is more in demand in the South (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore), hence the higher waiting period. Here in NCR, its not that high moving...When I had ordered my CL in April, the dealership had ready cars in white, black and brown - the dealership promised 20 days lead time for the grey which we wanted. And they delivered in time.

BTW, i had my first 'incident' with the car. Had parked the car in a neighborhood market. And suddenly a dust storm hit. When we came back, realized that the door window glass (right rear) was broken. The glass lay shattered through the rear cabin.

Frantically searched for the window part in the service stations in NCR - found the part in a workshop in Noida. Got it replaced yesterday - damage 3600 INR....

Windshield experts do not stock the car's window glass - and only one out of 5 workshops in NCR stocked the glass. Had the glass not been available, the lead time to procure the glass would have been 20 days (since its imported from Germany :-( )

Thats unfortunate. I think Jetta is more in demand in the South (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore), hence the higher waiting period. Here in NCR, its not that high moving...When I had ordered my CL in April, the dealership had ready cars in white, black and brown - the dealership promised 20 days lead time for the grey which we wanted. And they delivered in time.

Spoke to the dealer today about the delivery. They said that there is a distribution discrepancy for South India and that they have conveyed it to VW. I was also told that I would be given price protection in case there is an increase in price (because of the falling rupee). But they see no price increase in the near future.

A spate of articles in oncars, cardekho etc., indicating that Jetta Petrol and and refresh of current diesel models are expected by end of June.

Diesel model refresh, according to the articles will address the ACC issue!.

Articles are not clear (yet) on whether VW will launch the petrol model with 1.4 or the much loved 1.8.

I did not fully understand this statement though "On one hand the 1.4-liter TSI petrol engine is pretty frugal for the Indian car market but for the cost conscious buyers, Volkswagen India is expected to equip the car with the 1.8-liter TSI petrol engine as it tried, tested and more cost effective."

A spate of articles in oncars, cardekho etc., indicating that Jetta Petrol and and refresh of current diesel models are expected by end of June.

Diesel model refresh, according to the articles will address the ACC issue!.

Articles are not clear (yet) on whether VW will launch the petrol model with 1.4 or the much loved 1.8.

I did not fully understand this statement though "On one hand the 1.4-liter TSI petrol engine is pretty frugal for the Indian car market but for the cost conscious buyers, Volkswagen India is expected to equip the car with the 1.8-liter TSI petrol engine as it tried, tested and more cost effective."

Anyone in the learned forum has a better idea?

Thanks
Ajith

Hi Ajith,

Quoting Hormazd @ twitter - He drove the Jetta 1.4 TSI yesterday night @ 3 am - that's when the VW folks launched it. He mentions the gearing to be quite tall & while there is a strong mid-range punch & the motor is free revving but he found it not to be hugely responsive @ low revs.

Note: I have edited his tweet slightly - putting it from a 3rd person perspective rather than quoting him verbatim.

I called up a dealer in Bangalore and spoke to the "team lead" - they had no clue about the launch. They seemed very excited though!, and promised to get the details from the "management" regarding availability and pricing.

Diesel model refresh, according to the articles will address the ACC issue!.

Articles are not clear (yet) on whether VW will launch the petrol model with 1.4 or the much loved 1.8.

I did not fully understand this statement though "On one hand the 1.4-liter TSI petrol engine is pretty frugal for the Indian car market but for the cost conscious buyers, Volkswagen India is expected to equip the car with the 1.8-liter TSI petrol engine as it tried, tested and more cost effective."

I have a feeling the launch of the 1.4 TFSI instead of the 1.8 TSI had something to do with the rising petrol costs.

It's good to see VW being proactive, regarding customer feedback. I bet there were several complaints with respect to the missing auto-climate-control feature in a 20 lakh car.

On the phone he gave me another insight. "This is fully German model, will be made in Mexico, and will only be assembled in Aurangabad"
I never asked him where the car was made!!!.....

That happens with all Jettas, its called CKD or completely knocked down. The assembly happens in India. And it gets saved from extra duties which are levied on a car imported fully assembled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I have a feeling the launch of the 1.4 TFSI instead of the 1.8 TSI had something to do with the rising petrol costs.

Its simply because VW hasn't put the 1.8 tsi in this Jetta anywhere in the world. Only the 1.4 is available. So they probably wouldn't want to spend on R&D to fit in the 1.8 when it would not even sell much in India.

The version they've brought to India for the Jetta is the regular turbo-charged version and not the 'TwinCharger' version that also has a SuperCharger. I would've personally preferred to have seen the TwinCharger engine in the Jetta - which happens to feature in this year's Polo-R-Cup anyway. When they already have this engine in their Polo cup cars, I think it would've been easier to just also cascade them down into the street cars, perhaps in a lower state of tune (140/160/170ps maybe).

States of tune for the 1.4L Turbocharged petrol:
122ps @ 5000rpm, 200NM~210NM @ 1,500-4,000 rpm - this is what we have in India and in many cars abroad
131ps @ 5500rpm, 220NM @ 1,750-3,500/4,000 rpm - this is available in select cars abroad
- These engines apparently require a recommended 95 RON ultra-low sulphur unleaded petrol (ULSP). I think we were given the former 122ps state of tune as it must run well with 91 octane as well.

Features of the 1.4L Twincharger engine:
Shares most of the features of the regular turbocharged version, but in addition features a multi-ribbed belt-driven fifth-generation Eaton Roots-type positive displacement SuperCharger operated by a magnetic clutch integrated in a module inside the water pump, internal step-down ratio on the input end of the synchronisation gear pair, and KKK turbocharger with integrated wastegate connected in series administrated by a control flap, 2.5 bars (36.3 psi) pressure at 1,500 rpm and a front-mounted intercooler (FMIC). The mechanical supercharger compressor, driven at 1.5 times the speed of the crankshaft, mainly operates at low engine speeds from tick-over up to 2,400 revolutions per minute (rpm) to increase low-end torque. At engine speeds just above idle, the belt-driven supercharger provides a boost pressure of 1.2 bars (17.4 psi). The turbocharger assumes full effectiveness at middle revs, and the engine map disengages the clutch-controlled supercharger at a maximum upper limit of 3,500 rpm; the supercharger will then be bypassed once the turbocharger spools up and reaches sufficient speed to provide adequate boost in the upper rev-ranges.

Those seeking FE? They will still pay twice for the fuel costs compared TDI owners.

Those seeking Power? Why should they pick this one over Laura 1.8TSI, Civic or Corolla. Even 140hp 320nm TDI variant has more grunt.

I know Jetta worldwide does not come with 1.8TSI anywhere and fitting it only for India would have meant spending $$$ in R&D. But was this Petrol variant really required? VW has cleverly stayed clear of DSG7 Related thread. here by only offering a manual transmission. It is the only Automatic gearbox which this car can be equipped with.

Being a optimist, the good thing i see is, new gen Jetta atleast does not come with a under-powered MPFI engine like the previous gen Jetta.

I agree, and on top of that, there is no highline variant. So effectively, it’s pretty much like the Laura TSI. The added advantage over the Laura maybe the additional airbags/ESP, but clearly inferior on power. And this surely will cost a couple of lakhs more than the Laura TSI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Being a optimist, the good thing i see is, new gen Jetta atleast does not come with a under-powered MPFI engine like the previous gen Jetta.

That’s the only plus I can derive from this launch. I hope they will now start getting the 1.2/1.4 TSI engines for the likes of Vento/Polo/Rapid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Any idea about the ARAI FE? Is it significantly better than 1.8TSI?

I did a quick check on the user reviews on 1.4 TSI Jetta here in Singapore. It does not look like a major improvement in FE over the 1.8TSI. The average mentioned is in the range of 10km/litre. Infact the Jetta Sport with twincharged 1.4TSI 160hp seems to be more fuel efficient than the base version.
Note that only DSG variants are sold here.